BBC journalists report a number of voting irregularities across Pakistan:

• BBC correspondent Riaz Sohail was shot at as he approached a polling station in Natario village, Sindh province, to investigate reports of ballot stuffing. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) activists and voters were also fired upon

• In Karachi, protesters from Awami National Party (ANP) blocked roads and stoned vehicles after an attack on their candidate

• Firing on a polling station in Gujranwala in the Punjab caused voting to be suspended

• The presiding officer of a polling station in east Karachi - a PPP stronghold - said his police escort took him to the wrong location, leaving him 5km (three miles) from the station, meaning polling was delayed by five hours

It seems unfathomable to me in the comfort of my home here in North America that innocent people cannot exercise their right to vote in safety. This is simply devastating not just to the communities, and families of the victims but also to the process

There is definitely a complete disbelief and lack of understanding here as to what motivates the individuals who perpetrate these acts of violence